Blood drive planned for new year

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FAIRBORN – St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church in Fairborn is showing support for January National Blood Donor Month with a community blood drive 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 6 in the Fellowship Hall, 1501 North Broad St.

“The Donor Tee” long-sleeve T-shirt is free to everyone who registers to donate. Schedule an appointment online at www.DonorTime.com or call 1-800-388-GIVE.

Community Blood Center is encouraging all eligible community members to begin the year by giving blood. The limited edition “The Donor Tee” long-sleeve T-shirt is bright blue with “Donor” in bold, white letters along the left arm. It’s available Tuesday, Jan. 2 through Saturday, Jan. 20 when you register to donate at a CBC Donor Center and most CBC mobile blood drives.

Winter is a challenging time of year for maintaining the area blood supply, according to the CBC. The holidays, severe weather and seasonal illnesses prevent many from donating and can disrupt CBC’s blood drive schedule. If individuals must miss an appointment to donate, the CBC asks that they reschedule as soon as possible.

The challenges for sustaining the region’s blood supply go beyond the usual demands of the winter season. CBC enters the new year with the mission of building a new community of dedicated platelet and plasma donors.

The automated process of giving platelets and plasma is called “apheresis” and the number of these special donors is dwindling. CBC’s most dedicated donors are ageing, with about 53 percent of the donor base now over the age of 50.

January is National Blood Donor Month, a traditional time to thank donors and encourage donations during the winter months. Rep. Steve Huffman of Miami County, an ER physician and lifetime donor, is currently leading an effort in the Ohio General Assembly to designate January Blood Donor Awareness Month in Ohio.

CBC will focus in the new year on calling for young people to become the “next generation of donors” and asking new and current donors to help CBC meet the challenges of the future by becoming apheresis donors.

Fairborn Daily Herald

Story courtesy of the Community Blood Center.

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